12() JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 11, NO. 



In a collection recently made by Mr. Henri Pittier in Venezuela is a 

 new species of this genus, which combines to some extent the char- 

 acters relied upon by Planchon and Eichler for the separation of their 

 subgenera. The leaves are digitately trifoliolate, but the anthers 

 open by a single terminal pore and two tiny basal pores. Another 

 species, described from Bolivia by H. Hallier, has digitate leaves and 

 anthers opening by two apical pores and two smaller basal pores. 

 Hallier raised the question whether these basal pores may not have 

 been overlooked in other species of the subgenus Diporandra, but was 

 prevented by lack of material from determining this point. There 

 are in the National Herbarium no flowers of any of the previously 

 described species of this subgenus, so that the question remains an 

 open one, but it is probable, from the fact that two minute lateral 

 basal pores are found in the anthers of M. vitifoUa, of the group 

 Eucochlospernmm , that they occur in all the species. 



The species of Maximilianea are shrubs or trees, with alternate 

 palmatifid or digitate leaves and short panicles of handsome yellow 

 flowers. The inner bark of two species iJM. regia and A/, viti folia) 

 is used in Brazil and Mexico for making ropes and cord, and the latter 

 species (M. vitifolia) is sometimes grown as a hedge plant in the 

 American tropics, but in general the genus is of little economic im- 

 portance. 



Maximilianea Mart.; Schrank, Flora 2: 4-51. 1S19. 



Cochlospermum Kiinth, Malv. G, footnote.'* 1822; H. B. K. Nov. Gen. & vSp. 5: 



297, footnote. 1S22. 

 Wittelsbackia Mart. & Zucc. Nov. Gen. & Sp. i: 80. pi. 55. 1824. 

 ''Azeredia Arrtida; Allem. Appar. Coll. Desenh. Arruda, ntvi tab. 1S4G." 

 Type species M. regia Mart. & Schrank. 



KEY TO SPECIES 



Leaves palmate-lobed, the lobes serrate. 



Leaves 7-lobed, the lobes lanceolate, subcaudate-acuminate. 1. M. codinae. 

 Leaves 3- to 7-lobed, the lobes obovate to oblong, acuminate to obtusish. 

 Shrub 2 meters high; leaves 10 to 12 cm. wide; capsule glabrate, obtuse. 



2. M. regia. 

 Tree up to 8 meters high or more; leaves 10 to .33 cm. wide; capsule 

 densely griseous-tomentellous, umbilicate. 3. M. vitifolia. 



Leaves digitately 3- to 7-foliolate, the leaflets entire. 



Leaflets 3; anthers with a single terminal pore. 4. M. triphylla. 



Leaflets 5 to 7 (rarely 3) ; anthers with 2 terminal pores. 

 Middle leaflet 10 to 18 cm. long. 



Middle leaflet 2 cm. wide; capsule glabrous, about 25 mm. long. 



5. M. tetrapora. 



^ Genus named and one species (Bomba.x gossypium L.) cited, but no description or 

 diagnosis. 



